essay
Social stratification in traditional Amhara society
Social stratification in Africa • New York • Published In 1970 • Pages: 187-224
By: Hoben, Allan.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a reconstruction of traditional Amhara sociopolitical organization, before 1896. Hoben's intent is to contrast Amhara society with that of feudal Europe with which it has been closely identified in the literature. He depicts traditional Amhara society as far more fluid than medieval European society--without the rigid class distinctions found in the latter. This he attributes to a loose land-tenure system based on ambilineal descent and partible inheritance, the importance of vertical patron-client relationships within government administration, the value and prestige accorded to military prowess, and an all-inclusive ambilineal kinship system and ideology. There are two elite groups: ecclesiastic and military-administrative, who derive their authority from God and emperor, respectively, but whose real power rests on the relative size of each individual member's personal following and landholdings.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Status, role, and prestige
- Talent mobility
- Classes
- Social relationships and groups
- Etiquette
- Form and rules of government
- Priesthood
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Amhara
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- unknown
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1800s
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Ethiopia
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Allan Hoben
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-224)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 78091223
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Amhara (African people)